Intentions
by janie17
Summary: After a long day at work, Jack shows up at Ianto's house to talk.


Disclaimer: I do not own nor am I associated with Torchwood or its affiliates. However, my ringtone is the theme songs, if that counts for anything.

* * *

Ianto sighed heavily as he sank onto his living room couch. By Torchwood standards, there was nothing especially hard or taxing about his day, but lately there didn't need to be. He was tired to his bones. The kind of tired that doesn't just go away with a good night's sleep and a handful of Ambien. As he reached for the television remote, there was a sharp rap at the door. He froze, holding his breath and praying that whoever it was would go away. They knocked again.

"Bloody hell," he grumbled, hoisting himself off of the sofa. Turning the deadbolt, he opened the door and sighed. Jack was standing outside his door, hands in his trouser pockets and an unreadable expression on his face. "Sir?" he asked wearily.

"Hi, Ianto," the older man said. Ianto gazed at him questioningly, waiting for him to continue. "I was just…I wanted to…" Jack chuckled self-consciously which struck his young employee as very odd. Clearing his throat, he asked, "May I come in?"

"Yeah, of course." Ianto ushered him into the apartment, closing the door behind him. He studied Jack for a moment, watching him shuffle slightly as he gazed about. He struggled internally between his natural urge to be a good host and the question of what exactly his boss was doing in his home. Politeness won out. "Would you like to have a beer?" he asked. He knew that the man hardly ever drank, but something in his gut told Ianto that tonight would one of those rare times.

Jack smiled. "Sounds great." The young man pulled two bottles from the refrigerator and gestured to the kitchen table. "Thanks," Jack said as he sat down across from him, taking a sip from his drink. They sat in silence, drinking their beer. Ianto studied his boss, who, in turn, studied the bottle his hands were wrapped around.

After nearly ten minutes of silence, Ianto sighed. "Jack?" he said evenly, going with another gut feeling. It was not a normal occurrence for him to call the man something other than sir or captain. "What are you doing here?" He frowned when the older man didn't answer, but as he went to speak again Jack met his eyes with a steady gaze.

"Are you all right?" the man asked softly, brow knitting slightly in concern. Taken aback, Ianto sat straighter in his chair.

"I-I'm fine," he stammered out, breaking eye contact to stare at his hands sitting on the table. The question had shaken him. His job was essentially to keep the team in one piece (Metaphorically speaking, that is. He was fine leaving the stitching of wounds to Owen) which generally went unnoticed and unappreciated. It felt strange to have someone ask about how he was doing. "Thank you for asking," he said steadily, "but surly that can't be why you've come."

The older man huffed out a laugh. "You'd be surprised," he muttered under his breath. "I worry about you, Ianto." Jack reached across the table and grabbed his hand. "I don't do a very good job of showing it, though." Ianto frowned at their joined hands, unsure what to say. He wasn't even sure of how he felt about the moment or the next words to come from his boss. "You've had a really rough year. Canary Warf…Lisa…And even knowing I did the best thing for the safety of the city, I can't help but feel like I was too hard on you that day. And that's, that's really what I needed to tell you. I won't apologise for doing what I had to, but I will apologise for the pain it caused you. And for not checking on you sooner."

"It's only been a month," Ianto whispered. Jack smiled sadly.

"A month during which I should have been checking on you."

"I'm okay. I don't need to be checked on."

"No you're not." Ianto opened his mouth to protest, but closed it again upon noticing Jack's stern expression. "It doesn't take a genius to see how depressed you are, Ianto."

The younger man sighed. "Want another beer?" he asked, standing from the table. As he went to walk around it, Jack stood and blocked the way.

"I _want_ you to know you aren't going through this alone," he said, stepping closer to him. His hand rested on the younger man's shoulder, a comforting weight upon it. "Let me help," he murmured.

Ianto chewed the inside of his cheek anxiously. He was thrown off by his intense desire to wrap himself in the older man's embrace. He took a shaky breath. Failing to come up with a witty comment to lighten the mood or change the topic, he said simply, "Thank you." He allowed his mental walls to fall some, causing his deep exhaustion to show more clearly on his face. It wasn't often that he let down his strong, professional façade. In fact, the last time had been back when Lisa had been alive and whole. "Jack, I…" he gasped. But the feeling of that strong hand gripping his shoulder and drawing him close stopped his words in their tracks.

"Come here." The older man firmly wrapped his arms around him and he allowed himself to relax into the embrace. Ianto loosely looped his arms around Jack's waist. He took a deep breath, inhaling the rich scent of 51st century pheromones, his nose in the crook of the older man's neck. After a few long moments, Jack released him from the embrace, pulling away while at the same time keeping him near, by firmly grasping his shoulders. "Will you promise me something, Ianto?" he asked.

"What?" The younger man had to restrain himself from agreeing automatically. It seemed lately that he couldn't help but say yes to whatever the man asked of him.

"I just want you to promise me that you won't let yourself get dragged down into the darkness. That you won't give up."

Ianto shuddered slightly under the intensity of Jack's gaze. "I'll do my best," he said softly. The older man continued to study him as he stood there, nearly itching for something to shift the sole focus off him. His flickering eyes eventually rested on Jack's mouth, analysing every line and the serious set of his expression before slowly shifting upwards to lock onto the older man's eyes. He licked his lips. "Jack?" he asked sounding more confident than he felt. "Is it too inappropriate under the circumstances that I'd really like to kiss you?" A slight pink coloured Ianto's face lightly, dusting across his cheekbones and betraying a small hint of embarrassment that lurked beneath his words.

The older man smirked. "Possibly, but I sure hope that doesn't stop you from going through with that urge."

"Oh good," he muttered as he beat back a swarm of butterflies in his stomach. Snaking a hand up and into the man's hair, Ianto closed the space between them, firmly pressing his lips to Jack's. A flood of stimulation overwhelmed his senses; the scratch of stubble against his own, the strong hands clutching his hips and pulling them closer, the 51st century pheromones that still lingered from their earlier hug in his nose and now joined with more of the scent, and the soft but deliberate feel to Jack's skilled mouth.

Minutes later, they broke apart reluctantly, Ianto regretting his need for oxygen. "Just a thought, but was this what you had in mind when you knocked on my door tonight?" Jack gave a half snort of amusement. "What?"

"This is always what I have in mind when it comes to you, Ianto."

"I'm surprised you never tried to act on that thought," the younger man said thoughtfully. Jack shrugged in response.

"Wouldn't have been right to take advantage of you like that."

Ianto frowned. "How do you mean?" he asked. He brought one hand to his hip, thumb rubbing circles on the back of Jack's hand where it still sat clutching his hips.

"Even though you've always flirted back, it wasn't hard to tell your heart wasn't in it. Looking back it makes perfect sense. There was a part of you that was locked down there with Lisa, and though I didn't know that then, I did know that anything that happened between us as more than boss and employee needed to be initiated by you, otherwise it would have felt wrong, like I was pushing you into something."

Ianto smiled at the older man, looking at him fondly. "Thank you, Jack. For being so thoughtful. It really—" he sighed. "Just thank you."

"You're welcome, Ianto," the man replied, pulling him back into another kiss.

* * *

A/n: I hope you enjoyed it! Feel free to leave me a review!


End file.
